Penn State Laureate Kenneth Womack’s essay series, “50 Years of Beatles,” continues with a look at Penn State Altoona’s upcoming International Beatles Celebration. On Feb. 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived to unprecedented fanfare at New York City’s newly renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport. With “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Meet the Beatles!” […]
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50 Years of Beatles: The Beatles Take Paris!
In January 1964, only a few scant weeks before the Beatles took America by storm, the band mates settled in for an extended stay in Paris. For the group, the Parisian visit proved to be a magical experience, with the Beatles playing 18 shows at the Olympia Theatre between Jan. 16 and Feb. 4. On […]
50 Years of Beatles: Christmas Time Is Here Again
Fab Four produced a small but memorable collection of holiday tunes Between 1962 and 1970, the Beatles recorded one musical masterwork after another, amassing some 27 No. 1 hits in the United States and the United Kingdom, while producing such timeless albums as “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “The Beatles (The White Album)” and “Abbey […]
50 Years of Beatles: “It’s Going to Be a Really Big Show”
As with so many history-making juggernauts, the story of the Beatles is littered with folklore — often created by the insatiable appetite of the media, the group’s legions of fans and sometimes even the band mates themselves. Looking back on the explosive onset of American Beatlemania following the group’s legendary appearance on “The Ed Sullivan […]
50 Years of Beatles: Ladies and Gentlemen, Beatlemania!
For most Americans, the explosive power of Beatlemania first revealed itself with the Beatles’ legend-making appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964. But back in their homeland, the Beatles’ fame had reached its fever pitch some four months earlier. On Oct. 13, 1963, the band performed before a national television audience of 15 […]